


Full Disclosure

by StonesFics



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Angst, Could be ship or not, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Ignis has the braincell, These poor boys, brotherhood era, ghosting, past attempted kidnapping, pre-game
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:00:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27093196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StonesFics/pseuds/StonesFics
Summary: “Oh, uh, hey,” Noctis greeted and stood, attempting to sound casual and failing miserably.“Heyaz.” Prompto tried to smile but it ended up being more of a grimace.They stood in an awkward silence for a moment, gazes averted to their own feet. The tension in the air was palpable, like the magic that hung around the Crystal. It was suffocating.“Prompto…” Noctis finally broke the silence, trailing off as every word he had ever learned escaped him. “I’m… Look, I just-”“Don’t hurt yourself, Noct,” Prompto cut him off, giving him a rueful smile. “You don’t have to apologize or anything. I get if you don’t want to be friends anymore. I’m just some stupid commoner. It’s really okay.”“No, it’s not,” Noctis snapped. He’d heard Prompto talking about himself poorly so many times in the past and it upset him every time. He took a breath, pushing the anger down. “I should tell you why. You deserve that much.”Prom looked at him in surprise, his mouth moving wordlessly. He was rapidly blinking back tears and wiped at his eyes with the palm of his hand. When he spoke, his voice cracked. “Okay, bud, I’m all ears.”
Relationships: Prompto Argentum & Noctis Lucis Caelum
Comments: 5
Kudos: 78





	Full Disclosure

**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact: this was actually inspired by a Steven Universe episode by the same title.

A quiet tension had filled Noctis's apartment for the past week. It had been three weeks since there was an attempted kidnapping of the prince and a week since he had been allowed to leave the Citadel to return to his apartment under very heavy guard. He hadn’t left his apartment in that time, keeping up with school through a mixture of online assignments and tutoring from Ignis. He hadn’t spoken to anyone other than Ignis, Gladio, Cor, and his father in that time either. 

Not even Prompto. Especially not Prompto.

It wasn’t for lack of trying on the blonde’s part. For the first week and a half Noct’s phone had been blowing up with texts and calls and every single one from Prompto went ignored. It wasn’t long before the notifications tapered off and stopped altogether. He felt like The Worst but resolutely continued to not even look at the text messages. He didn’t want or need to see them. It wasn’t hard to imagine what they said.

Since returning to his own apartment, Noctis had done all of three things every day: sleep, schoolwork, and sit on the couch staring blankly at the TV. He didn’t have any interest or motivation to do anything else and Ignis had given up trying to get him to do stuff. So every evening he sat on the couch bundled in blankets, spacing out and feeling nothing.

This evening was no exception. The only sounds in the apartment were the TV playing softly and Ignis organizing files at the dining table. The advisor was there all day every day even staying in the spare room once or twice. He’d been doing everything short of forcing food down Noct’s throat. Usually Noctis would feel guilty for being so useless and not doing anything but at the moment he couldn’t find it in himself to give a damn.

“Noct, you should get up and get presentable,” Ignis advised. “Company is coming.”

Noctis looked at him, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion. “Who’s coming? Dad? Cor?”

Ignis didn’t meet his gaze, instead staring down at the papers he was shuffling before putting them into his briefcase. “Prompto, actually.”

“What?!” Noctis was on his feet, striding over til he was at the table and he slammed his palms against it. “Why is he coming over?”

His advisor finally met his gaze with a cool glare, standing up. “I invited him. Correct me if I misinterpreted his presence in this apartment every weekend for the past year but I was under the impression that he’s your best friend. Am I wrong?”

Noctis grit his teeth, huffing. “Well, yeah, but I…”

He trailed off not knowing what to say. He didn’t want to admit what had been on his mind for the past few weeks.

Ignis narrowed his eyes and clenched his jaw. “Two weeks ago I received a call from Prompto asking about you. He was frantic, asking if you were okay. He had no doubt heard about the kidnapping attempt from the week prior but every attempt he made to contact you had failed. I informed him of your status and that your phone was not broken. I would’ve contacted him sooner but I assumed that you would inform him yourself. I guess I stand corrected.”

Noctis was unable to hold Ignis’s piercing gaze any longer, looking off to the side and shifting guiltily. 

“He called me again this week to ask for an update,” Ignis continued sharply. He was speaking at a normal volume but he might as well have been shouting in Noct’s ear. “He asked if he had done something wrong or upset you in any way. If you had stopped wanting to be his friend.”

The prince flinched like he’d been slapped. He had assumed that that was the conclusion Prompto would draw but having it confirmed and vocalized made the guilt slam into him.

Ignis didn’t let up. “So I invited him over this evening so you could talk. If you want to stop being friends with him, tell him yourself instead of this childish avoidance.”

“You have no right to butt into my relationships like that!” Noctis snapped, finally finding the voice to try and defend himself

A fire lit in Ignis’s eyes and Noct almost took a step back. “I don’t know if you had noticed, _your Highness,_ but in the time that you have been friends with Prompto, I’ve grown fond of him myself, enough to consider him a friend. And when I see a friend being hurt by someone else’s carelessness, I will not stand idly by and allow it to happen.”

A tense silence descended upon them. Another verbal blow that Noctis fully deserved. He did take a step back this time, breathing through clenched teeth. He stood tense, still not meeting Ignis’s accusing glare.

Finally Ignis broke the silence, his voice soft now. “Noct, I understand what happened was scary. I understand that you require time to recover from it. However, shutting out your best friend will not help. If you truly wish to end your friendship with Prompto, then tell him yourself. He deserves that much.”

Noctis’s shoulders slumped and he let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding, defeated. “Fine. You’re right. I’ll talk to him.”

“That’s all I ask,” Ignis told him with a sigh. He adjusted his glasses and grabbed his briefcase from off of the table. “I have to go to the Citadel for a few hours. Call me if you need anything.”

Noctis nodded. “Okay.”

With a small, polite bow, Ignis headed for the door. Noctis went back to the couch and fell onto it, dropping his head into his hands. He needed some time to figure out how he was going to deal with this. 

It seemed that the gods weren’t on his side, however, as when Noct heard the front door open signaling his advisor’s leave, he heard a surprised, “Oh, hello, Prompto,” following it.

 _Fuck, gods, damned, shit-_ Prompto was already there and Noctis was dressed in the same sweatpants and sweatshirt that he had woken up in. He also probably didn’t smell great since the last time he had showered had been the morning the day before. Prompto probably wouldn’t care that much, he never really did, but Noctis couldn’t help but feel kind of pathetic.

Just as he was calculating if he had enough time to throw on something less sweaty, Prompto entered the room. When their eyes locked, they both froze and guilt twisted in Noct’s gut. Prom looked exhausted, dark circles surrounding his eyes and a frown pulling down his lips. He looked hollow, like the life had been sucked out of his body. Gone was the ever present beat in his step, his head bobbing and hands patting to a song in his head. He was unnaturally still as he examined Noct.

“Oh, uh, hey,” Noctis greeted and stood, attempting to sound casual and failing miserably.

“Heyaz.” Prompto tried to smile but it ended up being more of a grimace.

They stood in an awkward silence for a moment, gazes averted to their own feet. The tension in the air was palpable, like the magic that hung around the Crystal. It was suffocating.

“Prompto…” Noctis finally broke the silence, trailing off as every word he had ever learned escaped him. “I’m… Look, I just-”

“Don’t hurt yourself, Noct,” Prompto cut him off, giving him a rueful smile. “You don’t have to apologize or anything. I get if you don’t want to be friends anymore. I’m just some stupid commoner. It’s really okay.”

“No, it’s not,” Noctis snapped. He’d heard Prompto talking about himself poorly so many times in the past and it upset him every time. He took a breath, pushing the anger down. “I should tell you why. You deserve that much.”

Prom looked at him in surprise, his mouth moving wordlessly. He was rapidly blinking back tears and wiped at his eyes with the palm of his hand. When he spoke, his voice cracked. “Okay, bud, I’m all ears.”

Noctis felt like the worst person in the world. He wanted to take back everything he had said and apologize for everything he had ever done ever. But he swallowed his apology and pushed on. This was important.

“Three weeks ago some dickheads tried to kidnap me, as you know,” Noctis started.

Prompto nodded. “It was all over the TVs at work.”

“Prom, if you hadn’t been called in to fill that shift that afternoon, you would’ve been caught up in it.”

“And I could’ve helped,” he added, frowning. “Instead I was stuck at work doing nothing.”

Noctis shook his head. “No, they would’ve hurt you. They’d been watching us for a while and knew that we were going to be at the arcade that afternoon. They were planning on using you as a hostage to get me to go quietly. Their plan fell apart because you weren’t there.”

Prompto stared at him with wide eyes as the information processed. Then he swallowed and nodded. “So you don’t want to be friends because you don’t want anyone to have any leverage against you.”

“I don’t want you to get hurt, Prompto!” Noctis exploded, his frustration finally getting the better of him. “In the past three weeks, all I’ve been able to think about is what could’ve happened if you had been there! They were prepared, they weren’t there to fuck around. They had knives and guns and drugs and a getaway van! I was only able to get away because I’ve been trained since I could walk, and I can warp and magically summon weapons! If you had been there, if they had gotten you, I couldn’t have- I don’t know what I would’ve-”

Noctis stopped, taking shuddering breaths. Tears were prickling his eyes and he squeezed them shut, letting the tears fall. Every scenario he had thought up since the incident was flashing before his eyes.

A hand fell onto his shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze. He opened his eyes to find Prompto in front of him. The blonde was also taking shuddering breaths and tears ran freely down his face but he was clearly trying to keep his composure.

When he finally rediscovered his voice, Noctis continued, “You don’t have to be friends with me. You have no duty to me like Gladio and Ignis. You shouldn’t be put in harm's way for my sake. We shouldn’t be friends.”

He averted his eyes to the ground and they lapsed back into silence. Slowly both of their breathing evened out and the tears stopped running. Weakly Noct wiped his face. When Prompto took his hand away from his shoulder, he awaited the worst. He expected him to turn and leave. And wasn’t that what Noct wanted?

Instead, however, Prompto spoke, his voice wavering slightly. “Just tell me the truth. Do you _want_ to still be friends?”

Noct sighed, “Prom-”

“Noctis,” Prompto cut him off harshly. He was staring intensely at Noct, his expression stony. “Do you _want_ to stop being friends with me?”

Noctis bit his lip, weighing his options. He could lie and say that he never wanted to see him ever again and he would leave and that would be it. But he couldn’t force the words out of his mouth. He couldn’t lie to his face like that.

“I want you to be safe,” he told Prompto honestly, choosing his words carefully. 

“But you don’t want to stop being friends?”

Noct paused but shook his head.

“Then that’s the answer,” Prompto stated and cleared his throat. “We’re still friends. You’re stuck with me.”

Noctis stared at him incredulously. “Prompto, don’t you understand? You could die just for being friends with me! You could be kidnapped or tortured for information or used as a hostage, or maybe just killed! Just for being close to me!”

“So?”

“‘ _So’??_ ” Noctis nearly cried. “Does that not matter to you?! Is my friendship worth more than your life?!”

“ _YES!!_ ” Prompto shouted. “Noct, before we became friends, I was just a shitty, lonely photography loser! I went to school, went home, did my homework, went for a run, and nothing else! And now I’m a shitty photography loser but I’m best friends with the coolest person ever! We go to the arcade, concerts, and ramen, and- and we play video games and ignore our homework and Ignis gets after us for being irresponsible! You’re the best thing to ever happen to me and if that means that it may fucking kill me, then so be it!”

Noctis gaped at him. “Prompto-”

“And what about what I want?” He continued, voice cracking. “You-You’re so focussed on what you should be doing for my safety or whatever, but wh-what about _me?_ You’re, like, my whole life! I get if you don't _want_ to be friends anymore, but if you’re ghosting me because of some bullshit like my _safety_ , then- then save it!” 

Prompto was breaking by the end, his breath hitching and once he had stopped a sob tore through him. Noctis did the only thing he could think of and wrapped his arms around his friend, cradling his head as he sobbed into his shoulder. His heart tore into pieces as he comforted Prompto and some tears of his own leaked from his eyes. Six, how did he fuck up this badly?

After what felt like an hour but was probably only a few minutes, Prompto started to quiet down. He pulled away from Noct’s shoulder, wiping his face. His face was a mess of tears and snot, blotchy red with bloodshot eyes. He kept his eyes averted and mumbled, “Sorry about your shirt.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Noctis replied. “I need to change it anyway. Prompto, I…” He paused, looking for the right words. “I’m sorry. I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

Prompto sniffled and shook his head. “I don’t wanna get hurt either but losing you would hurt, like, a lot. So there’s not really a win there. What if I talked to Gladio? Asked him to give me some training. You think he would do that?”

Noctis paused for a moment, considering the idea. That… could work. It wasn’t a perfect solution and Prompto wasn’t going to become sufficient at self defense over night, but even having the basics could go a long way. There was always gonna be that danger looming there and if Prompto wasn’t going to turn away from it then the least Noct could do was make sure he was prepared. He could settle for that. “Yeah, I think he would. And if he didn’t then I would order him to and he would have to. I’m sure he would be happy to have another student to bully.”

Prompto snorted. “That works, I guess.”

Noctis breathed a laugh and then fell back onto the couch, spreading out and letting the couch swallow him. He groaned, exhaustion settling into him. “We can figure it out in the morning. I think I’ve had my fill of emotions for the rest of the year, maybe the decade.”

Prompto settled next to him, tucking himself underneath Noctis’s arm and pressing against his side. “Yeah, no kidding. So, we’re still friends?”

“Yeah, yeah, we are,” Noct nodded and wrapped his arm around Prompto’s shoulder. “I’m sorry for everything. I was… really stupid.”

“I get it, man. Just don’t ghost me again, that’s a real dick move.”

Noctis winced. “Yeah, sorry. Ignis kind of dug into me about that before you got here. It was a really shitty thing for me to pull.”

“It sure was!” Prompto gently elbowed his ribs. “And you can make it up to me by watching shitty movies with me.”

“Sounds good to me,” the prince told him, smiling. 

* * *

When Ignis returned to Noct’s apartment, he wasn’t surprised when he found Noctis and Prompto laying on the couch fast asleep while some movie was playing softly on the TV. They were cuddled up together, Prompto almost falling off if not for Noct’s arms wrapped around him. His head was tucked underneath the prince’s chin and their legs were intertwined. It was the first time Noctis looked peaceful in the past three weeks. 

“That is fucking adorable,” Gladio remarked with a smirk. “I see Noct pulled his head out of his ass finally.” 

“Indeed,” Ignis replied. He put his briefcase on the table before grabbing a spare blanket from a cupboard and throwing it over the two. “I’ll have to put some dinner away for when they wake up.”

“ _If_ they wake up.” Gladio sat at the table, lacing his hands behind his head. “500 yen on them being out til noon tomorrow.”

Ignis hummed in response, observing the sleeping boys. “No doubt. At least Noct’s mood will improve. I anticipate everything will return to normal soon. Now, how does garula steak sound?”

“That sounds awesome, Iggy.”

Ignis started his cooking while Gladio kept him company. On the couch, Prompto cracked his eyes open. He took in the warmth around him, Noctis’s arm wrapped around him, the steady rise and fall of his friend’s chest. The mixture of Gladio and Ignis’s chatter and the TV was soothing, reminding him that he wasn’t alone. He shifted slightly and then allowed sleep to pull him back under with a content smile on his face.

**Author's Note:**

> Noctis is very lucky that it was Ignis who decided to approach him about Prompto because Gladio would've just decked him for being an idiot.  
> Thanks for reading! I wrote this in, like, a day and actually didn't hate it so after some revision, here it is! Please leave a kudos and comment if you enjoyed what you read and maybe check out some of my other works!


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